Search results

This study aims to estimate and compare the effect of EU and US GSP schemes on the cotton and textile sectors of Pakistan.

The analysis used data from 2003 to 2014 for all the 14 categories of cotton and textile products at two-digit using HS commodity classification. Effects of the EU and US GSPs are estimated using a gravity trade model.

Both the concessions are statistically significant determinants of wadding and nonwoven special yarn, articles of apparel-knitted, articles of apparel-not-knitted and made-up textiles sectors. In the rest of the sectors, the results are a mix. Among these, EU GSP is a statistically significant determinant of wool and animal hair and manmade filaments yarn exports, while the US GSP is important for the exports of cotton yarn and woven fabrics, manmade staple fibers, carpets, impregnated fiber and knitted or crocheted fabrics.

The research contributes in two major ways. First, it estimates the effects of EU and US GSPs on the textile sector of Pakistan while controlling for the effect of tariffs. Second, the study tests joint hypotheses about the role of EU and US GSPs in the cotton and textile products exports of Pakistan.

The purpose of this study is to comparatively analyze the effect of dividend policy on shareholders’ wealth in Shariah-compliant (SC) and noncompliant (NC) nonfinancial firms in Pakistan.

All the nonfinancial firms listed on the Pakistan stock exchange have been taken as a sample for 2016–2021. The Karachi Meezan index screening criteria were applied to screen SC firms. Based on the BPLM and Hausman test results, the authors used the fixed-effect and pooled OLS model for SC and NC firms, respectively. The F-test was used to compare the effect of each dividend policy variable on shareholders’ wealth for both firm types.

The findings reveal that the dividend policy does affect the shareholders’ wealth in both firm types. Dividend per share (DPS), dividend yield (DY) and earnings per share significantly affect the shareholders’ wealth in SC firms. For NC firms, the dividend payout, DPS and DY are critical. Moreover, the F-test results show that the DPS, DY and leverage effect on the shareholders’ wealth significantly differ for both firm types.

This study fills the research gap in the Pakistani context specifically as well as globally by providing important insights into the relationship between a firm’s dividend policy and shareholders’ wealth for SC and NC firms. In addition, this study comprehensively compares the results for both firm types, which is also lacking in the existing literature. Because this study is based in Pakistan, the generalizability of the results would be limited.

The findings of this study are helpful for the management of SC and NC firms in devising their dividend policies that can maximize their shareholders’ wealth. This study also provides guidance and knowledge to investors in choosing companies for their investments that can maximize their wealth.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that analyzes the relationship between dividend policy and shareholders’ wealth for SC firms in Pakistan. It is also the first study that comprehensively compares the dividend policy relationship with shareholders’ wealth for SC and NC firms. In addition, using the F-test for joint hypotheses to compare the specific effect of each dividend policy variable is a methodological contribution of the study.

This study aims to compare capital structure determinants' effect on the leverage levels of Shariah-compliant (SC) and noncompliant (NC) firms in Pakistan. This study also estimates and compares the capital structure adjustment speed for both firm types.

Based on the Karachi Meezan Index screening criterion, a balanced panel of 117 SC and 68 NC firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2008 to 2018 was constituted. This study used the generalized method of moments to identify the significant determinants of capital structure and estimate the speed of adjustment. In addition, the F-test was used to check whether the effect of the determinants on the leverage is same for SC and non-SC firms.

The authors found that different determinants affect both firm types' leverage levels (book and market) differently. The authors also found that the adjustment speed of SC firms toward their target leverage ratio is slower than their NC peers. Lastly, significant variation was observed in the results under different screening criteria.

This study fills the literature gap by providing a comprehensive comparison of the capital structure decisions of the SC and non-SC firms. Because this study is limited to Pakistan, generalizability would be an issue.

This study will guide the management of SC and non-SC firms about which factors are reliably important in choosing their capital structure. The findings also call for bringing harmony in the different Shariah screening criteria being in practice.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comparative study that identifies the significant capital structure determinants for SC and NC firms and investigates their effect on the leverage of both firm types. By testing joint hypotheses of same relationship, this study seeks to determine if, because of Shariah restrictions, the capital structure determinants of SC firms are similar to NC firms or they exhibit different behavior. The authors also repeat their analysis using other prominent screening criteria to assess the consistency of their results.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had profound economic effects, putting women entrepreneurs at considerable risk of losing income and sales growth as a result. This study aims to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic is a blessing or a curse for women entrepreneurs in Pakistan’s informal sector. The influence of business type, family support and other socio-economic factors on the sales volume of women’s businesses is examined.

Data were collected from 400 women entrepreneurs using a survey questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to investigate the relationships between perceived sales volume and socio-economic as well as demographic factors of women entrepreneurs.

Findings for RQ1 revealed that the pandemic was a blessing for cloth and cosmetic entrepreneurs, but a curse for those women selling dairy products. Results for RQ2 showed that age, homeownership, household size, family support and type of business were significant predictors of sales. Furthermore, women entrepreneurs were greatly influenced by their family’s desires and decisions, such that women entrepreneurs who received support from families and relatives reported higher sales than those who did not receive such support.

The results may assist policymakers in designing supportive programs to encourage women’s informal entrepreneurial activities. Creating entrepreneurial ecosystems may provide support for women entrepreneurs beyond family support. The findings provide a better understanding of women’s business effectiveness during COVID-19 pandemic. It reveals the resilience of women entrepreneurs in the face of cultural, economic and institutional constraints encountered during the pandemic.

This study is unique because it focuses on the impact of the pandemic at the household level rather than examining broad macroeconomic scenarios. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to explore the informal, home-based business sector of women entrepreneurs in Pakistan during the pandemic.

The main goal of this research study is to look at the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion in the association between workplace incivility and job outcomes (job stress, job satisfaction, and employee turnover intentions).

The authors gathered field data from individuals working in the higher education sector of Jammu and Kashmir to test the proposed study paradigm. A total of 550 respondents reported their perceptions of workplace incivility, emotional exhaustion, and job-related outcomes (job stress, job satisfaction, and employee turnover intention) at Time 1 in the Kashmir division and Time 2 in the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir via a two-wave data collection design.

The findings supported the hypothesized relationships, demonstrating that emotional exhaustion acts as a mediator between workplace incivility and employee job outcomes (job stress, employee job satisfaction, and employee intention to leave).

The findings of this research study will assist organizations and practitioners in comprehending the implications of workplace incivility and emotional exhaustion, as well as how they positively impact job-related outcomes (employee job stress, turnover intention), and negatively on job satisfaction.

This study adds to existing knowledge on COR theory by suggesting workplace incivility as a stressor and also testing emotional exhaustion as a defense mechanism for determining the effect of workplace incivility on employee job outcomes.

In this chapter, I uncover the jail diaries of a revolutionary woman of the 20th century Pakistan, Akhtar Baloch. Although feminism in Pakistan has oscillated between liberal and postcolonial camps, through reading Akhtar's diaries, compiled as Prison Narratives (2017), I center Akhtar's own struggles for Sindh, along with the resistance of the women she met in the prison convicted for the murders of their husbands, to better theorize Marxist Feminism in Pakistan that overturns the structures that commodify women through love and revolution. My article will show the commodification of women's bodies; the “sale” of women through marriage as the goal of this commodification; the lovelessness and alienation women experience in commodified marriages; the unexpected fall in love with someone whom it is subversive for the commodified wife to love; the subversion of this unexpected event that leads to the attempted resolution of this tension through murder; the separation of the lovers through the incarceration of the woman by the capitalist-patriarchal state; and finally, the unexpected outcome (albeit the most common one) that the male lover abandons his female lover once she's jailed, but the defiantly brave female lover finds platonic love in jail through close female friendships with other women who are similarly brave in both love and in revolution. Through this exposition, I show that Akhtar's diaries provide a way for us to build on Marxist Feminist theory through a theory of love and revolution from a Sindhi feminist perspective.

The purpose of this research is to rank the most significant factors of organizational structure that can reduce time and cost overruns (nonphysical waste) in road projects of the developing countries. Additionally, the effect of factors of organizational structure on nonphysical waste in road projects is also measured.

Factors of organizational structure causing time and cost overrun are extracted through a content analysis of the published literature. Moreover, a questionnaire survey is carried out involving 128 professionals to assess the effect of organizational structure factors on time and cost overrun. Finally, to obtain a more objective evaluation, relative importance index and regression analysis techniques are utilized, and the most severe factors influencing time and cost overrun are indicated.

This study found out that top management support and procurement procedures are the most significant factors influencing time and cost overruns in road projects of the developing countries.

A small number of studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of factors of organizational structure on time and cost overrun in the construction industry. And even more, its relation with respect to road projects of the developing countries is limited. This research highlights the effect of most significant factors of organizational structure that influence the nonphysical waste in road projects of the developing countries. Therefore, this study adds to the body of knowledge by recommending that all the stakeholders of construction project should pay close attention toward these factors to control the enigma of time and cost overrun. It might also prove helpful, if implemented to its full extent, in all the road construction activities undertaken.

The Western-centric nature of research into corporate social responsibility (CSR) has left gaps in one’s understanding of local culture's role in augmenting or undermining the impact of firms' CSR policies. This paper constructs and tests variables measuring “Confucian values” mediation between Chinese employees' perceived CSR and their job satisfaction, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior.

The hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling, using data from 311 responses completed by employees at Chinese private companies, located in China's Cheng-Yu economic area (Chongqing and Chengdu).

Chinese employees' perceived CSR had a positive significant effect on job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment). However, perceived CSR had no significant positive impact on organizational citizenship behavior. The authors also found that Confucian values are a partial mediator between perceived CSR and job attitudes and a full mediator between perceived CSR and organizational citizenship behavior.

The results enrich one’s understanding of cultural values in these relationships and suggest further research into how firms and governments in Confucian-based societies can better operationalize Confucian values to argument the firm's and country's CSR identity, thus improving job attitudes and public relations among customers who share this cultural heritage. For non-Confucian societies and foreign firms operating in China, the results encourage searches for Confucian value substitutes, such as trust and education, to incorporate into CSR mechanisms that promote these values among employees. The authors suggest approaches for furthering these agendas.

This study aims to propose and verify the suitability and applicability of Islamic equity-based microfinance models for financing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the State of Libya. The proposed models combine the unique features of social solidarity, cooperation “Ta’awan,” meeting religious requirements and providing financing more fairly and equitably.

A qualitative approach is applied in this study through semi-structured interviews with several Libyan experts, including Islamic bankers, Shariah scholars, MSMEs experts, Islamic microfinance experts and academicians. The data collected from 2019 to 2021 and thematic analysis by computer-based software NVivo is used to analyze the data.

The results indicate that the proposed Islamic equity-based microfinance models are suitable and applicable in Libya. This study also reveals that the proposed models have numerous potential benefits not only in meeting the financial needs of MSMEs but also in meeting the government objectives in economic divarication and socioeconomic development.

First, the study proposes the applicability and suitability of Islamic equity-based models in financing MSMEs only, while large firms are excluded from the study. Second, the study only proposes and tests the applicability of Islamic equity-modes of financing contracts, namely, Musharakah and Mudarabah, while Islamic debt-based financing models are not included. Finally, as there is no practical evidence of using those models for financing MSMEs in Libya, this study lacks empirical evaluations of equity models’ real benefits on income, employment generation, living standards improvement and business growth and sustainability.

Given the importance of the MSMEs sector for the State of Libya’s economic growth, it is expected that the findings of this study can be of assistance in formulating guidelines and implementing Islamic equity-based microfinance programs. Besides, it can be a valuable source of information for policymakers for improving the functions of the current microfinance programs in the country. Additionally, as studies concerning Islamic alternative models for financing MSMEs are scarce, the current study can also be a reference point for researchers, academicians, practitioners and other stakeholders.

Providing capital support for the underfunded economy segment, attracting small savings, increasing investments and developing entrepreneurial skills could lead to improved economic productivity and growth.

The present study proposes the structure of Islamic equity-based microfinance models for MSMEs in Libya and verifies the suitability of those proposed models among Libyan experts. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has been conducted on uncovering and exploring the potentials of Islamic equity-based microfinance models for financing MSMEs in Libya.

The existing literature reflects that the connection between enablers of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), Supply Chain (SC) sustainability and reliability is understudied. To cover this gap, the purpose of this study is to identify and benchmark the enablers of I4.0 for SC sustainability to build a Reliable Supply Chain (RSC).

This study benchmarks the I4.0 enablers for SC sustainability for building a RSC and analyses them with a multi-method approach. The identified potential enablers are validated empirically. A multi-method approach of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Preference Ranking for Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE-II) was used to investigate the influence of the identified benchmarking enablers and develop an interrelationship diagram among the identified enablers.

This study benchmarks the potential enablers of I4.0 to achieve high ecological-economic-social gains in SCs considering the Indian scenario. Digitalization of the supply chain, decentralization, smart factory technologies and data security and handling are the most prominent enablers of I4.0 for SC sustainability to build a RSC.

The findings from the study may benefit managers, practitioners, specialists, researchers and policymakers interested in I4.0 sustainability applications.